Viv walks to Thistleburr for her noon appointment with Pitts, reflecting on Heart's Blade, which features less swordplay and more political bickering between the human Mirrim and her stone-fey bodyguard Tamora than she expected. She suspects she'll lose Fern's wager.

Pitts is already waiting with planks, tools, and extra supplies. He warns Viv not to leave the tools out and departs. Viv struggles awkwardly to cut the boards, ruining two before getting a clean cut. Hammering is easy until she cracks the final plank with an over-strong blow, drawing Fern outside. Fern, stunned and upset at finding Viv repairing the boardwalk, storms off toward the beach without a word.

Viv finishes the repair successfully and cleans up. Pitts returns and refuses payment, claiming the wood was scrap. Fern reappears with a fresh loaf of bread and insists both orcs come inside for lunch. She serves bread, sausage, and cheese, thanks them, and presses a book of poetry, Thorns and Pinions, on a clearly uncomfortable Pitts before he flees.

Once Pitts is gone, Fern breaks down crying, confessing she can only keep the shop running another month. The store has been in her family fifty years, opened by her father, and she fears she'll be the one to ruin it. Viv awkwardly suggests that doing things the same way might be the problem. Fern admits she's thought about changing things but lacks time and money. When asked what Viv would change, Viv suggests the smell and the carpet. Fern laughs, thanks Viv, and asks about Heart's Blade. Viv reserves judgment. Fern muses that she's been too focused on big problems to notice small ones, like the carpet, which Viv says should be burned.